Choosing Darkness

Disclaimers...This is a not for profit fic. Known characters belong to JK Rowling and the concept of Kai belongs to Salter St. However, Arista and Unknown are my own characters, with Drake being lovingly borrowed.



Chapter 1 Just Like Home

The very \'feel\' of the town reminded her of softer times, of times in a world that was ignorant of the self destruction of its own government and very fabric of existance. She could feel the magic tingle the soft hairs on the back of her neck as she draped her travelling cloak over her right arm. Underneath she held the pommel of her sword steady to prevent the blade from banging against her calf. The people here barely took note of her, yet she freely observed them all. They were robed in mages\' garb, complete with a wand poking out here and there.

The woman stopped before one shop, feeling her \'draw\' halt with the entrance to the place called \'The Three Broomsticks.\' The large wooden sign declared the title in large, flowing script complete with three brooms stacked together in tee-pee fashion. Her destiny waited there. The whisper of the hem of her dress announced her entrance into the bustling bar as he caressed the threshold. Her steel grey eyes zeroed in on the elderly man seated at the far corner of the bar at a table that was a little seperated from the rest of the crowd. Ah, he saw her, then. A barely perceptible nod came from his direction just before putting a mug to his lips.

She ignored the looks she received when she strode purposefully to the table and looked down at the mage. He was a cross between Merlin and her favorite grandfather. His blue eyes twinkled in welcome as he looked at her. \"It\'s a very warm day out there, even for summer. Care for a butterbeer?\"

\"Ahh,\" the woman fumbles as the waitress appeared with a second mug before the man could make any motion that he wished another. \"Do I...know you from somewhere?\"

\"I need a new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts classes,\" he stated, patting the seat next to him. \"My sources tell me that you are an excellent witch.\"

The woman sputtered. \"Excuse me? Defense Against the Dark Arts? Your sources?\"

\"Your skills would be an invaluable asset to the school. In fact, it is imperative that you teach my students what you know.\"

She said nothing as he took another drink from his mug. She not so much looked at hers. \"What exactly are you talking about? And your sources are severely mistaken if they believe I am a witch.\"

He kept his tone jovial as he spoke with her. \"If you must know, dear, all my other DADA professors have barely lasted one year, and I need someone who can teach them how to use magic in case they are found without their wands. Each prior professor was a wizard, so...\" he let the statement hang and fall off the precipice.

\"If I didn\'t know better, I would suspect you were a little sexist,\" she murmured softly. \"So, you need me to teach your students what no male has been able to accomplish. And why me?\"

\"Because you work without the hinderance of a wand.\"

*And I speak to the dead,* she thought to herself. \"I suppose I should know the name of my employer?\"

\"Albus Dumbledore,\" he extended his hand to her. \"It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear.\"

\"We\'ll see about that.\" She paused a little before continuing. \"What\'s this I hear about a war?\"

\"That would be another story better told in my office. Such talk is not acceptable in public-ness.\" He slowly rose from his seat, offering his elbow to her. She hesistated only a moment before slipping her hand into the crook. If he wanted to do her harm, he\'d have pressed her to drink, or tell him her name.

They walked out together, pointedly ingoring the whispers that followed after her. The wizard was a strange man indeed. She could feel Power radiating from him, yet the other mages nearby effectively ignored it, or were not aware of it like she was. He also had that unnerving aire like he wasn\'t completely in control of his falculties and still saner than any other person she met. She smirked a little, throwing a side long glance at the wizard. \"You wouldn\'t have some unicorn blood swimming around in your lives, would you?\"

\"You are a strange girl, aren\'t you?\" he countered in that bouncy, devil may care attitude. The woman\'s grin went wider.

They walked to the outskirts of the town, which Albus had named Hogsmeade for her, before stopping. During that time, he had explained the history of the town and the wonders of the school it was shadowed in: Hogwarts. Her eyes quickly spotted the oddly shaped flower in the grass not more than a few inches from her, and her senses were on high alert. If this was a place where this mage would do her harm...

He gave her a bright, nearly insane smile as he took her hand firmly and bent down to pluck the blossom from its home. She instantly felt a slightly nausiating tug at the back of her navel, the feeling of turning inside out nearly overpowering her warrior instinct. A moment later, she landed on her feet a few paces away from the wizard with her left hand beneath her cloak, quickly untying the knot that held her sword in its sheath. It was then she noticed that she\'d been transported to a different land. Before her stood the magestic school the wizard had been speaking about.

\"Welcome to Hogwarts.\" Albus beemed with pride as the woman gaped open mouthed at the school.

***

She allowed herself to be lead through the hallways and corridors and staircases that occassionally moved on their own. Her eyes kept scanning the path she walked, nearly bugging out of their sockets as her mind whirled with images of her past. It reminded her so much of Stonghold, the Tower where she learned her magic and became her home before the cataclysm that destroyed her world. Right down to the upsidedown stairs, it reminded her of her past. She wouldn\'t allow herself to believe for a moment that this was real. For all she knew, this wizard had transported her into the past in her own universe. But how that could be accomplished when she was the holder of the only Key she knew could tranverse space and time?

Albus lead her to his own office, murmuring some secret password that sounded so much like butterscotch to her ears before the gargoyle slid past to reveal another staircase. He mercifully left her to her own thoughts as the stair revolved upwards, carrying them to the Headmaster\'s office. The next moment she realized that she was seated before a beautiful deep wood desk being offered tea. She took it barely registering it and watched Albus move around to his side of the desk.

\"The task of DADA professor is not simple, nor is it without danger,\" he began, and she noticed the change in his demeanor. \"You are correct; we are in the midst of a war. My sources also tell me that you are unaware of Voldermort and his plans. You have been sequestered in your own little world, with your own problems.\"

She blink as if waking from a dream. \"Did your sources also spy on me while I was in the shower? Are you going to tell me where my birthmark is, now?\" She was irritated, and she felt justified for it. How dare this man know all this about her, and she know nothing about him, or this school of his. Then something flitted in the corner of her vision. She was up in a flash with her sword bared and pointing at a portrait of one of the former Headmasters of the school. The portrait held a very indignant look as it glared angrily into her eyes.

\"I cannot believe that you are going to employ this barbarian as DADA professor, Dumbledore!\" He huffed. She glanced at the nameplate below the picture.

\"Do all these pictures do this?\" She asked cautiously, her accent finally showing through. It was a strange cross of Scottish brogue with American, but if one was aware enough, this was only a description clos her her accent. No one on this side of the world had heard it before now.

\"She is fine, Phinneas,\" Albus replied calmly before taking in a sweet biscuit.

\"I hardly call this acceptable behavior.\"

Her eyes glanced back to Albus. He was still non-plussed that this portrait was speaking and moving of its own accord. In fact, all the portraits were moving, some even disappearing from their own frames and traversing to others to whisper and point at her. \"Funny how he accepts back talk from paint and canvas,\" she muttered loud enough for the figure in the painting to hear turn purple in response as she swiftly sheathed her blade and carefully sat back down.

\"The pictures here are magicked so that they can speak and move. They hold a memory of the person they were in life.\"

\"Oh. Thank you for finally answering me.\"

Albus pointedly ignored her. \"All these students have learned the extroverted way of working magic, which is well and good, but they need to be prepared for the time when they do not have a wand and are faced with evil before them.\"

A delicate eyebrow arched on her face, but she said nothing. In fact, she listened silently as Dumbledore explained the war and the school and what he hoped from her position. Lastly, he mentioned Harry Potter. \"Lessons of Occlumency have failed brilliantly, I\'m afraid. I was hoping that they would bring Severus and Harry together to a mutual understanding, but I\'m afraid the past is too strong.\"

She tilted her head a little at the sound of dissapointment in Albus\' voice. \"Who is Severus?\"

\"Professor Snape, the Potions Master of the school,\" Dumbledore replied. His behavior suddenly changed as he folded his hands before him. That slightly insane attitude blanketted over him again. \"After we\'ve discussed payment, shall I show you to your rooms?\"

She played this game enough to know that it wasn\'t really a question. She wasn\'t really being offered the choice to refuse. Her smile was quiet as she remembered how many times she\'d used this ploy herself. Fine, she\'d play this game for a while, especially if this was the man who \'called\' her all the way from across the world. \"Arista Starfyr,\" she announced quietly. \"And I\'m not a witch. If I must have some title, it would be N-Druidess.\"

Dumbledore\'s smile wavered only slightly before turning into a grin as he took her offered hand. \"It is an extreme pleasure to meet you, *Professor Starfyr.*\"